Infiltration
by Scriptor Sapiens
Summary: Delta Squad, fresh from their mission aboard the Prosecutor, is assigned a new task, with some undesired help from Jedi Master Shaak Ti.
1. Chapter 1

"And so," finished the clone advisor, "You will be working with Jedi Master Shaak Ti."

Boss stiffened. "I thought we had informed the Republic of our wishes to stay unaffiliated with Jedi."

"There was nothing I could do," Said the clone on the hologram. "She insisted on coming. Master Ti can be rather…persuasive."

Boss was unfazed. "I refuse to work with some force sensitive fool. Jedi always assume they're better than the rest of us, and I will not be lowered to the rank of foot-soldier."

The clone advisor gave him a quizzical look. "Do you even know who Shaak Ti is?"

The Clone Commando paused. Though he had not seen Shaak Ti, he had heard of the legendary Battle of Ord Ibana and Dagu. He must be a great fighter to escape messes like those.

With the clone's lack of answer, the advisor smirked underneath his helmet. "The Jedi has made it very clear that you will all be of equal rank. Trust me, this Togruta will not be arrogant and pompous like other Jedi. You're coming up on the rendezvous. You'll meet up soon. Advisor out."

And the hologram fizzed into nothingness.

Boss stood, stunned for a moment. He had just been forced to work with a Jedi.

Suddenly, he was furious. With a snarl, he viciously kicked the projector. It flew across the room and landed in several pieces.

Still fuming, he walked towards the stern of the shuttle. Passing a window, he saw the massive assault ship looming above them like a silent sentinel. He gave it a glare and continued on his way.

He entered the back room, and was greeted by several heads snapping up to look.

Sev was polishing his rifle. "So, what's the news?"

Boss glared at him from under his helmet. "We," he said, "Are going top have some help on this mission."

"From who, Omega?" Fixer inquired.

"No." Said their leader. "From a Jedi."

Sev dropped the cloth he was using. "A JEDI!"

"A Jedi." Boss confirmed.

"B-b-b-b-but why?" Scorch stuttered.

Sev snarled and threw his rifle to the ground, storming off and crossing his arms. "Because, with so many against-the-odds successes, the Jedi must be feeling threatened."

Fixer gently placed a gloved hand on his comrade's shoulder. "Perhaps he just wants to make sure the job is done well-"

"They don't trust us then," Sev growled. "I'm not sure which is worse."

"Maybe he just wants to see us in person," Scorch joked.

Sev gave him a look that would have made a rancor pee in fright.

Scorch shrank visibly. "Sorry."

"Enough chatting, Deltas," Boss snapped. "We have a mission. Our orders are simple. Infiltrate the Separatist command post, blow the controls, and get out of there before the whole thing goes sky high. With any luck, we'll be out of there and done before the Jedi even gets in."

"Yeah!" Scorch said, hopping up and down with anticipation. "The Jedi will be so pleased, we'll get medals or something."

"In addition to the ones we already have?" Sev quipped.

"Never say 'no' to medals," Scorch countered.

"Well, keep that mindset, Deltas. We're about to dock with the cruiser and meet the General. Let's hope he's not a total stiff."

Oh, how disappointed he would be.


	2. Chapter 2

"It's good to have you on board, sir," a clone said, saluting Boss as he strolled down the hallway.

His large imposing armor and his larger than usual physique created a tense air upon the cruiser. And for greater effect, he said nothing. He didn't even seem to notice the clones presence.

The clone wasn't sure whether he should hop up and down with excitement, or hide in the nearby janitor's closet. Instead, he just stood there, shaking.

Scorch put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, he's always like that."

"Oh," trembled the clone.

Boss set a quick pace walking through the ship, clones scattering out of his way. The General was going to be in the debriefing room. He turned a corner and started towards the elevator. The doors were closing, but somebody was already inside.

"Hold it!" he called, and the doors obediently stopped, a red hand in the way.

The doors opened to reveal a tall female Togruta. Boss had never had too much fondness for Togruta: in his opinion, they were the most colorblind species in the galaxy. But this one had a type of presence about it, a type of self-confidence. She would have been exceedingly beautiful if it hadn't been for the stern, appraising expression she was wearing.

The squad quickly filtered inside, and the Togruta let the door slide shut again. The squad had a strict 'no-talking-to-civilians' policy. Obviously, the Togruta had a 'no-talking-to-clones' policy as well. She remained as silent as boss did. The entire elevator ride was a battle of who could remain the most stoic.

The other clones hung back and tried to avoid the thick tension that was now spreading in the air.

The elevator binged on the briefing room, and, to his surprise, the Togruta stepped out, immediately taking command.

"Commander!" she barked.

"Yes, sir!"

"I want full schematics on the base on hologram immediately! You, sir!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Angle the ship twenty degrees to the left. I want full fire power on that station if anything should go wrong."

"Sir!"

"You!" she pointed at another clone. "I want full power on the forward shields. If they do notice that we are here, we need to be ready for them. With the fleet on the other side of the planet, they should be expecting an attack from the other side."

"Yes, sir!"

This was a change in policy. The Togruta was captain on the ship.

"Deltas," Boss said quietly. "Assemble around the hologram, and wait for the General. I'll meet him at the door."

"Sir." And the squad obediently filed aside to the hologram.

Boss stood at the door, waiting for the Jedi to show up. He waited. And he waited some more. He waited even more. It had been a full ten minutes before somebody noticed that the esteemed leader of Delta Squad was simply standing at the door like some kind of heavy-duty valet.

"Commander!"

Boss hardly moved. "Yes?"

"What are you doing?"

"I'm waiting for the Jedi, sir."

There was a deathly pause.

"What?"

"I'm waiting for the Jedi, Captain. Do you know where he is?"

There was another deadly pause.

Suddenly, faster than he could pull out his rifle, he was on the ground, one hand behind his back, and a foot placed on his back. He couldn't move.

With a grunt, he tried to spin, but found he couldn't. "What in the galaxy is this? I command you to release me!"

He found the Togruta leaning towards his helmet, and with a deadly whisper, saying, "I am Shaak Ti. I believe you were looking for me."

Every single ounce of blood drained out of Boss' face. He had never been humiliated like this before. The entire bridge was quiet, all the clones turning to see the clone commando pinned to the ground by the Jedi.

The Delta Squad weren't quite sure what to do at this point.

"Sir?" piped up Scorch. He was usually the one to try and break the ice, which usually resulted in him getting a few broken bones. "We did not know that you were the Jedi."

Fixer flinched. By the way that the Togruta's body language had changed, he knew that had not been the right thing to say.

With a sweep of robes, the Jedi released their leader and began to stalk towards the hologram generator, looking very much like some dark goddess of legend.

Every set of eyes on the bridge followed her progress until she was standing right over Scorch.

"I see that you commandos are not as your reputations would lead me to believe. It seems I shall have to do everything myself on this mission, as you are incompetent little drones."

Oh, yeah, she just pulled the drones card.

Boss would have leapt and beaten the snot out of her from the tip of her montrals to the tips of her toes, but he had a feeling he didn't need to mess with this one.

It seemed that Shaak Ti had let it go. She swept her robes away from Scorch and moved towards the hologram generator.

"Trooper! Where are those schematics?"

"On screen now, sir."

Obediently, the hologram flickered to life. A large separatist fort with spires reaching high above the walls glowed blue on the hologram screen. Several areas were highlighted.

A clone strode up to the hologram. "General, our plan is simple. We have several concussor charges which will be placed here," the area that he pointed to obediently illuminated, "here, here, and here."

"Actually, I think it would be better to place that mine here," Scorch put in.

The clone looked surprised. "Sir, that's not a structural strong point."

"It will be once you blow the other points. Because of the technology we're limited to here, we can't get a simultaneous blast, and the position would work if it were simultaneous, but since it isn't, we'll have to go for one detonation at a time."

Shaak Ti looked pleasantly surprised.

"Furthermore," Scorch said, almost glowing like a lighting unit, "if we put charges here and here, we would take out the droid factories, which would allow for a quicker demolition of the rest of the building."

The slightest trace of a smile flicekerd across Shaak Ti's features. "Perhaps you're not completely incomeptant after all."

Scorch beamed with the compliment until he realized it was backhanded.

The clone trooper who had stepped up to demontstrate the charges looked thoroughly indignant. "Well, since you have things under control here…" and he strode off towards the direction of the navigational computer.

Shaak Ti watched the trooper go for a minute, then she turned to Scorch, her features no longer marred with the stern and appraising look. Come to think of it, she looked rather curious.

"I do not believe we have been properly introduced, trooper."

Scorch glowed once again. "Well, ma'am, I am Clone CC—"

Shaak Ti cut him off with a wave of her hand. "I don't do numbers, trooper. Give me your name."

Scorch was positively giddy. He had never been treated so well before. "They call me Scorch, ma'am."

Suddenly, Scorch was paralyzed as Shaak Ti reached out an elegant finger and wiped it across the visor of his helmet. When she removed it, it was stained with a large amount of black soot.

She gave him a half-smile. "I see why." She pursed her lips and blew the dust off her finger.

Sev chuckeld in the back. Scorch looked like he had just been shot with a paralytic dart.

"And who are you, laughing boy?"

"They call me Sev, ma'am," he rumbled.

She gave him an appraising look. "Sniper, I presume?"

"Along with general killer, sir."

"I like your attitude, trooper."

Sev let his ego swell a little bit with the compliment.

"And I presume that you are the techie, here. Umm…Mechanic?"

"Fixer."

"Fixer. Your skills will be invaluable in the infiltration."

"Thank you, ma'am."

And then she turned her gaze to Boss, who was still standing stoically in the corner, glaring at her. Nobody won his squad over. Except for him. She moved to the top of 'people-whom-I-hate' list, a spot previously taken by General Grievous.

She gave him a cold look that made ice crystals grow on his visor. She obviously didn't like him either. "And I presume you are the leader."

"Well, it seems you have something more than air under those montrals."

"And a comedian too! Charmed, sir, but I'm sure the droids will find no place for your humor. What did you say your name was again?"

"Boss."

"Ever the humble one."

Ouch! She's ripping on him, ain't she? Scorch shot Sev a glance. This should be good.

"Well, when you're one of the best…"

"That remains to be seen. So far, I am not impressed."

"Well, considering your color skills I'm surprised."

"Did you know that orange is only worn by those who can't wear any other color?"

"Then why are you wearing green sir?"

"Brings out my eyes," a feature which she narrowed most prominently now.

"Really? I'd think you'd want to hide those things." 

"Like you? You must be a horrible sight to wear that bucket over your head all the time."

"I'm surprised I've lived through the sight of you ma'am."

"Another assumption which remains to be seen."

"Sirs! We are in prime orbital position to deploy," a clone interrupted.

Shaak Ti curled a lip at him. "Let's see what you're made of…Boss." She mocked the name with a little sneer. Boss fingered his blaster.

"The feeling is mutual, General."

She sniffed and turned away. "Begin Operation Deploy, Captain. See you on the ground."

"What's Operation Deploy, sir?" Fixer trotted alongside the Jedi as she swept from the bridge.

"Our way of disembarking, trooper."

'Disembark' didn't sound like quite the right word for what they were going to be doing.


	3. Chapter 3

"Master Ti, are you crazy?" Scorch howled.

"No, not crazy. Why do you ask?"

Scorch was very justified. Where our last chapter ended, they were going towards what Shaak Ti called a disembarking maneuver. Said disembarking maneuver was releasing all the escape pods at once in a blind gamble that the Separatists weren't going to be able to pick off their pod before they got shot.

Albeit, the Separatists hadn't noticed for the first five minutes. But when they did, it hit the fan and went everywhere.

And presently, Shaak Ti was evading vulture droids, blaster shots, and flaming escape pods that had already been winged with Delta Squad desperately hanging on in the back.

Scorch decided not to answer Master Ti. He instead focused on saying his figurative prayers, as he was an athiest.

Fixer turned a wonderful shade of green under his helmet as Shaak Ti pulled a barrel roll. A vulture droid screamed past the window, grazing the ship within half an inch.

Sev was loving this. He howled in the back and put his hands up with a crazed, "WOOOOOO!"

Boss remained silent in the back. In all honesty, he looked like some statuary they had decided to take along.

There was a massive KABOOM and an escape pod was reduced to smithereens by a Vulture Droid's missile. It was taking all Fixer's clone training to not toss his clone cookies into his helmet.

Suddenly, a large amount of smaller objects infiltrated the mass of escape pods. They were small, and didn't seem to pose much of a threat to the mission, until they started to grab onto the escape pod.

Buzz Droids.

"Oh, we're dead," said Scorch.

"Not if I can help it." Shaak Ti put on the brakes so hard that the Buzz droids who had just managed to latch on sailed off into the great beyond. And then she accelerated so fast that the ones who had just latched on were left in the dust.

Scorch pointed out the happy bags just in time for Fixer.

At this point, even Sev was starting to lose his verve. He had put his hands down, but he was still noticeably excited.

As Master Ti pulled more into the throttle, a red light started flashing on the dashboard.

Followed by a second.

And a third.

And before you knew it, the entire control board was flashing with red lights like some Christmas tree gone mad.

With a Togrutan swera that nobody understood, Shaak Ti looked in dismay at all the buzz droids that had accumulated on her windshield.

"Blasted, infernal…" she snarled. And then with all the Force strength she could muster, she blasted them off.

One persistant one managed to hold on, though, and with a horrendous whirr, the buzz saw came to life and began to saw through the windows.

Fixer was immediately on the spot, waiting for it to buzz through. He had his blaster ready and was ready to pick it off. Having tossed his cookies, he was feeling much better now. (He made a note-to-self: NEVER eat Rhodian take-out before a mission)

As soon as the buzz saw cleared the inside of the windshield he shot it with a blaster and slapped a piece of putty onto the hole.

Shaak Ti looked on approvingly. "Wonderful technique, trooper." Then, she pointed at the walls of the pod. "But, do you have enough putty to handle all of those?"

Delta Squad had congregated into the central aisle of the escape pod because all the walls were overrun with buzz saws.

Fixer paled. "General, I think the mission is over before it started."

Boss wasn't too concerned. Delta Squad had sealable suits, and he wouldn't be that upset if Shaak Ti got blown out into oblivion. But he knew that if they happened to jettison out of the escape pod, they would burn up on reentry if they weren't either a) picked off by a vulture droid, b) picked off by flying shrapnel, or c) picked off by a buzz droid.

His mind was racing to save his squad. He noticed he didn't put Shaak Ti in the list.

With a bright idea, he looked at the throttle controls. True, they were already at max, but he had learned a little trick while he was serving aboard the _Prosecutor_ before it was taken.

With a little too much enjoyment, he shoved the Togruta Jedi out of the cockpit seat, and began to quickly move the throttle front to back.

"Trooper! What is the meaning of this?" an outraged Shaak Ti demanded from the floor.

Boss was about to give a sarcastic answer when suddenly, the engines exploded. Not technically, though. They almost exploded. Every control mechanism that had constrained the fuel to the engines was now gone, and the engines were burning like a Hut under the Tattooine suns.

All of the troopers were knocked to the back of the ship, and the Buzz droids who had managed to hold on were ripped from their buzz saws and thrown off into space, trying to comprehend what had just happened.

Boss was feeling rather proud of himself. He had just saved his entire squad, and, unfortunately, the General, and was now zooming towards their destination faster than scheduled.

He was almost happy when he realized three things at once: 1) the nose of the escape pod was starting to burn on reentry, 2) he had no way to slow down, 3) Shaak Ti was getting up to beat the snot out of him.

"Wonderful, trooper! You have just managed to single-handedly kill us all! I salute you, sir!"

"I didn't see you come up with any bright ideas, Conehead!"

"SHUT UP, AND LET ME THINK!"

Both turned to see Fixer crouched on the ground, both hands on his helmeted head.

Sev was clutching his gun for comfort, and Scorch was fondling a bomb, contemplating suicide.

For several moments, the only sound was the beeping alarms on the dashboard.

Fixer looked up finally. "I have an idea. But you're not going to like it."

"Tell me, soldier. That's an order," Boss said.

He told him. Boss didn't like it.

With a determined snarl, Fixer pulled out his welding torch. "Now, you know, if this fails, we'll just all be dead quicker, right?"

"Just get on with it, 40!" Scorch howled.

"Here goes," said Fixer, and he applied the torch to the side of the escape pod.

The alarm sounds increased ten fold as Fixer slowly cut a section out of the side. It looked like a rectangle, only it didn't have one side. He looked at everyone to make sure that they all knew what he was about to do.

They all nodded in grim assent.

And then he kicked the panel he had just cut off.

There was a BING and heat immediately flooded the cabin, and also simultaneously, the pod swung to one side.

"IT WORKED!" cried Fixer. "IT WORKED!"

"HURRY UP AND CLOSE IT! WE'RE ROASTING IN HERE!" Sev howled.

Still giddy with his newfound triumph, Fixer grabbed onto the handle he had made sure was there, and closed the hatch again. Then, he furiously began to weld it shut.

Shaak Ti wiped her now sweating brow with her sleeve. "Let's hope…we never have to do anything like that…again."

Silence.

"Not to be Johnny Raincloud over here," Scorch pointed out, "but how are we going to land?"

Everyone looked expectantly at Fixer.

"Oh, so, it's not enough that I just saved all you guys' cans, now I have to save them again?"

Shaak Ti began to fiddle anxiously with her lekku. "This is not going according to plan. We need a new plan!"

"It took you this long to figure it out?"

"If you put as much limited brain power into plans as you do into your smart remarks, we might all survive this deathtrap!"

Scorch piped up from the control panel. "Just cleared the atmosphere. If you guys have a plan for keeping us from smashing against the planet's surface, I'd like to hear it."

Shaak Ti paced desperately, Fixer stood on his head, Sev anxiously wiped his gun, and Boss crossed his arms and hid away in the corner.

Several minutes passed in this fashion.

"Guys?"

Everyone's head snapped up, hoping that Scorch had come up with a plan.

"No pressure or anything, but we just cleared a mountain peak."

"No pressure, mneh…" Sev mocked.

Scorch almost smacked him upside the head, when Boss slapped himself on the helmet.

"I'm an idiot!"

Shaak Ti shrugged. "Well, we knew that already, but…"

He swiftly yanked up a panel in the floor and revealed five parachutes.

"Oh, yeah!" Fixer said. "I'd forgotten I'd brought those."

Shaak Ti looked like she was about to kiss him as she slipped on the backpack. "Thank you, Fixer!"

"Hey, what about me? I'm the one who bloody found them!" yelled an indignant Boss.

"Yes, but did you bring them?"

He growled something under his breath and tied on the last strap of his parachute.

Scorch kicked off the panel that had been previously welded and rewelded. It flew off and disappeared into the atmosphere.

"See you on the ground, guys!" he howled before hurling himself over the edge with a crazed, "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOO!"

"Show off," said Fixer before diving after him.

Sev got poised in the doorway. Then, he turned to Shaak Ti and Boss who were still inside. "Don't kill each other while we're gone." Then, he followed the other two out.

Shaak Ti finished tying her lekku behind her head with a rubber band with a flourish, and gave a pointed glance at Boss.

"Ladies first," he said, gesturing to the door. He was contemplating shooting her parachute once she was out.

"I know, I was waiting for you."

"I always thought you were a man," Boss smirked. And then, he threw himself out the door.

Shaak Ti stood, frozen for a moment, then she uttered a quiet swear and jumped out as well.


	4. Chapter 4

A blast rocked the dry scrubland surrounding the CIS fort. B-1 Battle droids squeezed off rounds with surgical precision, targeting the advancing Republic Artillery. Swarms of Vulture droids, Tri-Fighters, Y-wing bombers, LAATs, and attack shuttles fought it out over the heads of the infantry. And high above in space, CIS cruisers attacked the _Venator _class Republic ships.

The battle was heating up.

Exotically beautiful, Luminara Unduli sliced her way through battle droids with grace and ease, letting the Force guide her body, knowing when to parry, feign, and attack.

Some part of her missed the help of her old Padawan, Barriss Offee. With their attacks in tandem, they were an unstoppable team. But she was away on a mission to heal injured troopers near Mon Calamari.

She was on her own.

But she was perfectly capable by herself.

Suddenly, her com-link activated. Hoping it was good news, she listened in.

"General, package delivered."

She almost whooped with joy. "Very good Captain. Contact Kit Fisto and spread the word."

"Yes, sir."

The line went dead.

She sliced on through swaths of battle droids, trying to ignore the stench of burning metal and tissue that was slowly accumulating. The dust began to cloud her vision. She blinked dust off her blue eyes and fought on.

There was an unmistakable battle cry somewhere farther away. She risked a glance to her right.

Tentacles flying like an acklay in a metal-shredder and lightsaber flashing like a bolt of green lightening, Kit Fisto telekinetically threw a Spider-droid into an approaching tank.

"What kept you," she yelled above the din of the brawl.

"A rather resilient crab-droid." he responded, grinning in his usual style. He paused to Force-punch a battle droid, sending it caroming into its allies, and slice the arms off a B-2 before slicing it in half. "I heard our surprise package was delivered."

"Yes," she grinned. "The droids will be quite surprised."

"And the plan for us is…"

"Stay here until they can deactivate the shields."

Kit stared at her as if she had grown a second head. "Are you serious? The most cunning strategist of the Order told us to fight it out with us outnumbered five-to-one?"

Luminara grimaced in assent as she telekinetically launched a droideka through the side of a spider-walker. She didn't quite believe it herself. "We'll have to trust her."

The Nautolan frowned. "For her sake, I hope so. If I die, whatever is left of me, is going to throttle her."

And he was gone in a puff of dust.

She continued to slice her way through the droids, savoring their cries for help.

Her com-link again crackled to life in her ear. "General, the shield is too strong for us to breach. Should I order an analysis?"

"No, Commander Gree," she responded, parrying a bolt with ease and slicing through a battle droid at the same time. "Lets just keep them occupied until our friends have broken in."

"As you wish general. Gree out."

Suddenly, a deafening explosion shook the ground. Master Unduli was blown off her feet with a cry of agony. Clones screamed their last as the immolation spread. It seemed the Seperatists were rallying.

Determining that she still was holding her lightsaber, the Mirialan stood, and joined in the fray.

_Shaak_, she called into the Force, _hurry!_


	5. Chapter 5

Battle droid B1-5556 patrolled the south hallway. Blaster at the ready, and surgically precise, he was the ultimate weapon of the Trade Federation.

But here he was, stuck in the lowest of jobs, sentry duty, seeing absolutely no action.

And no matter how much he tried to convince himself of the importance of his position, he never could.

That's when the first explosion happened.

The lights flickered and sparks descended from the ceiling. Red Alarm Lights began flashing, and BX-Commando droids began spilling out into the hallways as a directive entered his system:

INTRUDERS DETECTED

STATUS: 5_ HOSTILES_ MOVING_ DOWN_ CORRIDOR_ A-D34

ORDERS

SENTRIES:REMAINPOST

B2:SEEK&DESTR.

BX: SEEK&DESTR.

And so B1-5556 was left at his vigil.

He officially hated his job.

He marched on and rendezvoused with B1-223 at the door to hallway A-D35. Sentry duty like him.

"Status report," demanded 223.

"Situation normal," he responded.

They were silent.

"Continue patrols 5556."

"Roger, roger."

5556 about faced and began to march away, but he stopped.

Faint scratching noises were emanating from the door he had just been in front of.

223 had heard it too, and was investigating. He placed his head against the door and listened.

Even from fifteen feet away, 5556 heard the muffled call:

"Get clear!"

That's when the door and 223 ceased to exist. Replacing them was a shower of metal confetti and smoke.

He charged at the door, blaster raised, ready to annihilate whatever lay behind the smoke, and then he heard another call:

"EAT THIS CLANKER!"

And the thermal detonator blew the hapless droid into the next dimension.

The smoke suddenly cleared with a blast of the Force.

"Always the subtle one," Sev muttered as he stepped over the ruined threshold.

Scorch shrugged. "And would you look at that! There weren't even any droids to hear it!"

"Cut the chatter Deltas. We need to get the next charge planted before the clankers do come," Fixer snapped.

Boss checked a schematic as he continued through the scorch marks. "According to the data, we should plant a charge on the opposite wall." He paused. "Master Ti, are you coming?"

The togruta Jedi was glaring in an upwards direction. "I sense a disturbance in the Force."

"Oh do you?" Boss said.

Shaak's face soured. "Yes, I do. Now if you're done mocking me, get those charges planted. And no slip ups this time Scorch."

Scorch was indignant. True, his mine had gotten them safely into the fortress. Also true, he had placed it specifically where the wall was lacking security. Also true as well, Boss had lead them straight to the detonation point, which also happened to be the alarm system center, in which a well placed charge could shut down the security and take out a structural strong point. But then it was true that when the charge had detonated, the security system had gone berserk. He had misplaced it by a half-centimeter. And after the Jedi had blown all the droidekas sent to kill them off the balcony, they were now being ambushed from every hatch in the fort by Super Battle Droids, IG-Lancers, and BX-Commandos. He had, of course, been blamed. But it was only a half-centimeter for the Force's sake! "Don't worry, there won't be. I just need a few minutes to place the charge-"

But he stopped. A soft noise was coming from the ruined door. It sounded like a large ball rolling. Then several large balls rolling.

"DROIDEKAS!" Shaak Ti roared, igniting her lightsaber as several of them rounded the corner and stationed themselves with their shields up.

"Oh? What was your first clue!" Boss howled over the roar of blaster fire.

The Jedi ignored him. "Scorch! Get those charges planted! We'll cover you!"

"Yes sir," he responded, trotting back to the wall. Slapping the putty on the wall, he gently placed the gargantuan mass of plastic explosives on the wall, fingers gently wiring the charge to the detonator.

"Hurry up 62!" Fixer growled through their com link. "Or we're gonna be permanent residents!"

"Art takes time,' he countered. "I just have to connect red to green…or was it green to red?"

"SCOOORCH!"

"Ok, ok, God, fine!" The last two wires connected, he called to boss, "Armed and ready!"

"Fire in the hole!"

The explosion was magnificent. After the Earth shaking KA-BOOM, the lights flickered and the whole building shook. Then a rather large chunk of ceiling came tumbling down.

"DELTAS: MOVE!" Boss roared as the debris rained from the sky. He tackled Sev out of the way of a piece of piping. Shaak Ti evaded a piece of metal, slicing another in half with her lightsaber. Fixer dove out of the way of a gigantic piece of transparisteel. The debris just continued to fall. Dust polluted the air. The squeal of metal and the crunch of impact was deafening. There was a sharp pain, and scorch knew no more.


	6. Chapter 6

The force of the explosion knocked Kit Fisto off his feet.

Lifting his face out of the dirt, he saw a grand spire of the separatist fort almost completely hidden by smoke. With a groan, the entire metal structure tumbled down like a felled tree.

The energy field surrounding the fort flickered and died. The battle droids he was fighting moments before shut down, teetering, but not falling down.

But seconds later, the energy shield crackled to life, and the battle droids rebooted.

A spider droid approached, charging its heavy cannon, the nautolan Jedi pushed himself off the ground with a back flip, called his lightsaber to his hand, ignited it, and brought it down on the droid, cutting it in half and creating a seismic blast with the Force as he hit the ground. All the droids within a fifteen foot radius were blown away.

He grabbed for his com-link. After a blast that big, he needed to check in on Master Ti and the commandos she was leading.

"Master Ti, do you copy?"

Static was all he heard.

"Delta Squad, this is General Fisto! Come in!"


	7. Chapter 7

"Dleta Squad, this is General Fisto! Come in!"

The words echoed through the rubble within the Seperatist fort. No one answered.

B1-0324-227 clawed himself out of the debris. Directives flickered slowly across his field of vision.

HEAVY STRUCTURAL DAMAGE INFLICTED

BUILDING STATUS: CRIPPLED

ORDERS

ALL REMAINING DROID PERSONNEL: SEEK&DESTR. ALL COST

It was at that moment the droid noticed the body.

Covered in plastoid armor with orange stripes decorating the outside, a Republic Clone's body lay amidst the rubble.

Surely he must be dead.

But the clone groaned quietly. He tried unsuccessfully to push himself onto his back.

The droid remembered his directives. He tried to shoot first, but found that his gun was no longer at his side.

He took one hobbling step towards the clone, and saw his own leg fall off at the knee.

He crashed to the floor, now crawling forward with his two blunt fingers.

He dragged himself forward, fully intending to smash the clone's head with his missing leg.

He drew closer. The clone had fallen down after another unsuccessful attempt to raise himself up.

Closer still. He was close enough to hear the clone's labored breathing.

He raised his club high. He would be long remembered for this! SO LONG YOU REPUBLIC SCU-

A gigantic chunk of rubble had lifted itself off of the floor and had turned 227 into a pancake.

Shaak Ti rose shakily to her feet. Even with the help of a Force push, that rock was hard to move. "Alright, who's not dead? Sound off!"

Several groans emanated from various places in the rubble-filled room.

Shoving the rocks out of the way of the door, Sev emerged from a utility closet which had miraculously survived the structural evisceration of the building. "What the heck was that!" he roared. "I thought that the charge was just supposed to weaken the building!"

"Well, obviously the building was weakened a bit too much," Scorch groaned as he fought to pull his leg out from in between two chunks of rubble. "Make note to self: Use smaller charges." 

"We were lucky enough to actually survive long enough to make that mental note," Boss muttered, having finally pushed himself onto his hands and knees. "Where did my gun go?"

"I doubt that we'll find it here," Fixer gestured broadly at the room. "I lost almost everything after the explosion. All I have is my DC-17 pistol. A few jump drives and a couple of auto-hacks survived. Frankly, I'm amazed that none of my grenades went off."

"Speak for yourself," Scorch muttered, searching his anatomy for the droid-popper he felt stinging his nerves.

"I'm amazed that we survived at all," Shaak Ti moaned. "Next time we do that, let's be _outside_ the building."

Boss straightened a gauntlet. His wrist mounted vibro-blades were still working properly at least. He had a flash-bang, two droid poppers, and a ruined thermal detonator. It probably wouldn't work, but he kept it anyway. His gun was missing, but a few droid adversaries would fix that. "Alright Deltas, lets plant those last two charges."

Shaak Ti stepped forward. "No, you plant one. I'll plant the other."

Boss almost jumped for joy, but what felt like a torn muscle in his leg kept him from doing so.

Scorch hesitated in giving the last charge to the Jedi. "Are you sure? Another close call like this could leave you with no back up, or even medical assistance."

The togruta wiped a bit of blood from her forehead. "It is better that at least one of us succeed than none. And besides, I still have my weapon.' She held out a now very dusty lightsaber hilt. She stashed it into her robes and extended a hand. "The charges please."

Almost grudgingly, Scorch handed the Jedi the mass of plastic explosives. She smiled a thank you to him. She moved to Fixer, and obtained a map from him. Then, using the Force, Shaak Ti blew open the door.

She turned her head over her shoulder. "Good luck, and may the Force be with you."

Then the Jedi disappeared in a burst of Force Speed.

Boss, in spite of himself, whispered back: "And with you too."

"What was that Boss?"

"Nothing six-two. Now, let's get moving. We have some charges to plant."


	8. Chapter 8

"No, no, no, no, n-" and with an azure hum, the battle droid fell to the floor in two pieces.

With a spinning flourish, Shaak Ti deactivated her lightsaber and hung it on her togrutan sash.

Stepping over the bodies of the slain battle droids, the Jedi crossed the room and shrugged off her backpack and opened it. Reaching in, she gingerly removed the blasting caps and plastic explosives from the bag and left the satchel on the floor.

She stretched out with the Force, sensing the battle droids, checking up on Delta Squad's progress. They were presently avoiding a platoon of stationed battle droids. From what she had seen of them, it wouldn't be too much of a challenge for them.

But then there was the small blip.

A spec of red in the sea of gray and blue.

The darkside.

She had sensed it before the explosion, but it had disappeared until now.

Perhaps she was just a little off from the explosion that had nearly killed them all, sensing things that weren't there.

This small blip was the least of her worries though.

Her challenge now, was to remember how to arm this mess of wires and plastic explosives without turning herself into a red mist.

With the Force enhancing her ultrasound-detecting montrals, she felt where the walls were giving off pressure. She closed her eyes and let her feet move her towards where the pressure was greatest, where all of the building was supported on one point. As she pondered it, she wondered if she was using an extremely primitive form of shatterpoint.

The thought would have to wait. Her outstretched hand had touched the wall.

Opening her eyes, Shaak Ti lifted the hand with which she clutched her bomb and placed said device on the wall. Then she pulled out the tangle of wires and wireless receptors. Racking her brains for what Scorch had told her in the crash course she had taken, the Togruta placed and armed the bomb in a matter of minutes.

She stepped back to observe her handiwork.

True, compared to Scorch's bombs, it looked like a very young Ithorian had slapped it all together, but it would suffice.

With a satisfied nod, Shaak Ti turned and began for the door.

Then she noticed the wall terminal.

The small plasma screen glowed, and informational messages flickered across its screen.

Why would an all-droid facility need a terminal? The droids were always fed updates through their wireless antennae.

Her curiosity piqued, the Jedi moved toward the terminal.

The thing was on, and had no password prompt.

It had been used recently.

Her fingers fluttered over the keyboard, closing out of system updates, and taking her to the home-screen.

Her brows knotted. None of this made sense. The computer showed records of food being imported. This was odd for a droid factory. Shipments of phirk for magna guards' electrostaffs were to be expected, as were the durasteel for super-battle droids, energy crystals for droidekas, and vobro-blades for commando droids, but the food simply stood out like a sore thumb.

Why would food be needed here?

Once again her fingers were in motion on the keyboard.

The personnel logs were as accurate as any. Lists of droid operating numbers scrolled up the list.

CZ-4562

CZ-6538

CZ-9678

CZ-1954

The list of numbers was endless. Shaak Ti began to just scroll and scroll, looking for any anomalies.

CZ-5722

CZ-0244

CZ-5723

A VENTR.

CZ-3566

Wait. "A Ventr," what did A Ventr stand for?

Ventress!

That little bit of filth from Ord Ibana*.

The blip! That little ripple in the Force was the dark acolyte!

She once again stretched out with the Force. The blues and grays were all subdued now, all tinged with red. Ventress was no longer concealing herself, and her presence clouded the Force. But the epicenter of red, the bright, glowing red, was moving very swiftly.

And she sensed four gray beings in the Force.

Delta Squad.

The vermillion ripple was moving towards Delta Squad!

The Force began to warp in a way that could only indicate a Force choke.

The Jedi withdrew from the immersion, and Shaak Ti ran.

She ran in the desperate hope that she was not too late.

*Credits to lordtrayus for the _Clone Wars: Battle of Ord Ibana _story.


	9. Chapter 9

The sound of a vibro-blade ripping through durasteel is somewhat unpleasant.

Think of a piece of transparisteel being scraped by a large rivet, the blood curdling squeal that the materials make when combined.

Well, that's what Boss had been hearing for the past several minutes.

The remaining droid sentries were few and far between, and most of them remained blissfully unaware of the clone commandos that were slipping through the shadows.

Unfortunately, several minutes prior, a droid had happened to spot the edge of Fixer's boot.

The droid itself went berserk, and Sev was all too happy to silence it, but the damage was done, and a few commando droids had dropped in. As such, the aforementioned few-minute-interlude between being spotted and now had been spent eliminating the droids.

And that was what was making the awful sound.

Deprived of range weapons, the squad had to resort to more…animalistic measures.

The wrist mounted vibroblades in Delta Squad's gauntlets were grimly efficient in relieving commando droids of their heads.

Presently, the last cranium dropped to the floor with a bang, and Boss sheathed his weapons.

"Squad, check in."

"62 still with 'ya."

"07, bored, yet alive."

"40, in prime condition."

Boss gave a satisfied nod, and led his squad into the next chamber.

The room was, to his surprise, largely empty. There were a few dead droids, but only a few. There was scattered debris from the last explosion, but not much else.

The warning bells went off in Boss' head. Why would the last structural strongpoint of the building be unguarded?

Boss gave a few cryptic hand gestures. Their meaning was understood.

Something was wrong.

With a few more gesticulations, the Squad moved to the far corner of the room, three facing the known entrances, and Scorch, pulling out his last plastic explosive, approached the wall.

The bomb's setting box bleeped as Scorch entered the directions. "Tell this building to say 'Goodnight Gracie.'"

"Hurry it up 62, I have a bad feeling about this." Fixer glanced from side to side anxiously.

"Alright, hold on just a second. I've almost…GOT IT!" The bomb beeped an affirmative to Scorch's claim.

"Alright, now let's get the Jedi and get out of here. I've got this nagging do-GHLACK!"

Boss' head snapped to one side. Sev was floating in mid-air, hands clawing at invisible fingers at his throat.

Scorch was frantically pulling at Sev's leg, as if that would help. He was desperately fumbling with his bacta-dispenser to revive his comrade as the life was squeezed out of him.

With a crunch, the dispenser crumpled in on itself. Scorch released it immediately, but was knocked off his feet as Sev flew across the room and made contact with the wall before slumping to the floor.

Boss' HUD in his helmet displayed Sev's health as a bright red. Critical.

An evil cackle resonated from somewhere far away. The echoes in the chambers made the sound untraceable.

Scorch audibly gulped. This was not good.

With a hand gesture, Boss arranged the squad in a tight circle.

Something moved in the shadows. It was humanoid. Perhaps wearing a long skirt.

Boss trained his sights of his pistol on the figure.

It emerged from the shadows. It was a female Rattataki. She had pale blue eyes that looked like they stared straight though your soul. Adorning her bald head were dark red and black tattoos, perhaps with some cryptic meaning, but that would have to wait. She had on her belt, what looked like two lightsaber hilts.

Despite the Rattataki's fierce appearance, Boss felt his vision floating towards her bosom.

She seemed to notice. "Getting your money's worth clone?"

"Off those tiny things? I'd say not."

While his comment on their size was completely untrue, Scorch noticed that her pale skin acquired an angry flush.

"Your mission ends here clones," she spat. "You may have destroyed my factory, but now you will join in its fate!"

Fixer glanced at Boss out of the corner of his visor.

This one probably had a few screws loose.

Boss moved his fingers so discreetly; a Bothan might have completely missed the signal.

But Fixer saw it.

Ever so slowly, his hand crept for his blaster.

Now Boss had to keep her attention.

"You and what army? Oh wait, we destroyed it!"

There was now a definite flush of anger on her face.

"The droids of the CIS are infinite. We still have hundreds of factories."

"And yet, with your infinite droids, the Republic still fights. Probably a bad field commander."

The Rattataki now looked mad enough to kill. Which she probably would.

"_HOW BAD OF A COMMANDER IS THIS!_"

Faster than Boss' eye could trace, the Rattataki lunged, lightsabers flying to her hands, and ingniting into scarlet beams of energy.

Fixer raised his weapon and fired.

Scorch tossed a thermal detonator.

Both weapons converged on the flying assassin. She was going to be obliterated in mere seconds.

But something went wrong.

The assassin corrected her flight path in mid air, swinging her legs over her head and performing a flip.

Both weapons missed her completely.

Fixer barely had time to attempt a dive before the detonator went off. The blast blew him twenty feet, and smashed him into a wall.

The blaster bolt winged Scorch on the arm. Oddly enough, it saved him. Milliseconds later, the assasin's lightsaber wrought a steaming cleft in his armor.

Too shallow to be fatal.

Too deep to be ineffectual.

Both hit the floor simultaneously, and the assassin landed in an elegant crouch.

Now there were two flashing icon's in Boss' HUD.

The assassin stood. The pulsing glow of the lightsabers lit her from below, furthering her ominous presence.

"Close. Ingenious," she said, with a crooked smile adorning her face. "But no spice clone."

"Sorry, I don't do spice."

Albeit, he was considering taking up the habit if he survived.

He reached for his blaster, and found it gone.

"Looking for this?"

He saw it in the assassin's hand.

She looked at it appraisingly.

Then she tossed it into the air, and hewed the weapon in mid flight.

Boss' mind went blank.

"Game over," she sneered.

Oh, no. No way. No way in Hoth was he being beaten by a Seppie. Especially a _woman _Seppie.

"Guess what?" he hissed. "It's overtime."

The vibroblades surged from his gauntlets and he brought them into a fighting stance. The assassin looked mildly surprised. Then, a look of savage glee spread across her face.

They were frozen. Locked in a stare that would mean life or death for whoever broke it first.

Nobody moved.

Boss's eyes flickered from position to position on the Rattattaki, evaluating his opponent. Her arms were completely out of the question; the lightsabers were too formidable a barrier. Her heade also. He didn't have a range weapon, and his virboblaess would have to get awfully close to those lightsabers to even have a shot.

That left her legs.

"what are you looking at, clone?"

"your legs. Just thinking how they're so skinny, they might pass for the neck of an emaciated Muun."

Oh, that clinched it. The assassin lunged, her lightsabers zooming to life, singing the air around his helmet as he frantically tried to dodge out of the way.

He saw his opportunity. She made a particularly vicious stab that left her arm too far away from her lightsaber. With a deft sidestep, he avoided the stab and slashed her across the forearm.

She shrieked like a banshee and used the force to jump out of the way. Now at a reasonable distance, she examined her wound; the blood was dripping off the bandages that now draped from her arm. She looked up with a snarl.

Boss stood and extended a hand, gesturing her forward with a flick of his fingers.

With a shriek very reminiscent of a Muun stepping on a tack, she threw herself into a second wave of attacks, this time even more furious than before. Once again, he was put on the defensive. He retreated further and further back as the glowing plasma grazed every part of his anatomy. His eyes were focused on those glowing blades, watching as they spun almost hypnotically around the assassin. He dodged this way and that, feeling the heat of the blades as they singed the air.

In fact, he was so concentrated on the lightsabers, he forg to mind his footing.

He stepped on a foul rock. It rolled out from under his foot, and his stance was lost. He tried desperately to recover his balance in time, but it was too late.

He felt a sudden and horrendous pain in his shoulder. It felt like nothing he had ever felt before. Burning. Searing. It felt as if his entire body was on fire, and for the first time in his life, he screamed in pain.

And he saw why.

The assassin's lightsaber had run completely through his shoulder.

With a hiss, the assassin pulled it out, and the pain doubled. Boss staggered for a few moments, then he fell to the ground like a bag of bricks.

Panic clouded his vision, the pain was so intense. He just tried to crawl, crawl like an infant, crawl like an invalid, just get away from that glow.

The assassin placed a foot on his chest. She placed both glowing blades on either side of his neck, forming an 'x.'

This was it.

He had failed.

She seemed to know it too. She had a gloating sneer on her face.

"Any last requests?"

"Get your slimy hands away from him, you scum!"

The assassin's head immediately snapped up. Almost like an angel, a form descended from a ledge and landed on the ground with a soft thump.

It was Shaak Ti.

"I was wondering when you'd show up, Jedi!"

"Well, with a piece of trash as malodorous as you, I'd want to get rid of it as soon as possible."

"Ever the diplomat, Master Ti."

The lightsabers had been removed from Boss' neck, and he immediately used his good arm to crawl as far away from the assassin as possible.

Shaak Ti responded to the last comment by pulling out her lightsaber. "This is the end, assassin!"

"For you, maybe," the Seppie assassin sneered with vicious delight. "You don't know the power of the dark side!"

"Perhaps not. But I know the power of the light," Shaak Ti said, standing steadfast in a defensive stance, "And I put my faith in the Force."

"Then you are a FOOL!"

Without another word, the assassin struck, leaping forward like a carnivorous monster. Shaak Ti blocked quickly and efficiently, side-stepped so that her opponent lost her balance, and deftly pushed her forward with swift kick to the kidneys.

The Seppie stumbled, as Shaak Ti readied herself in another defense formation.

"You cannot win, Assassin," she said without pretense. "Surrender now, or die."

"Never!"

The two went at with such ferocity that Boss could no longer see the combatants, just flickering of blue and red, punctuated with flashes, grunts, and crackling noises.

He shook his head several times, and his vision cleared.

The assassin swung an overhand blow. Shaak Ti's performed a spinning block, and brought her blue blade into an 'X' of red. She flipped out of the way. The Seppie was on top of Shaak Ti almost immediately, raining blows onto her defense.

But her ferocity was her downfall.

Faster than the eye could trace, the Seppie swung both sabers. Shaak Ti blocked the first, then she deactivated her lightsaber and flipped over the assassin's head. The ferocity of the attack threw the assassin off balance, and as the Seppie stumbled forward, Shaak Ti reactivated her lightsaber and sliced off a thin sliver of the Seppie's upper arm.

With a howl of pain, the assassin staggered away, holding her injured arm.

Shaak Ti bore a triumphant simle. "I win Ventress."

Then the assassin smiled a truly evil smile. "You lose, Jedi."

She pressed a button on her wrist com-link.

A small explosive detonated at the base of a column. With a groan, it began to fall.

It was going to land right on top of Boss.

Shaak Ti immediately reached out with the Force and caught the column as it fell.

Then a second column began to fall.

And a third.

And a fourth.

The columns began to fall like felled trees.

Boss saw the assassin give a small salute to Shaak Ti, before calmly walking out from whence she came.

Shaak Ti stood in the middle of the room, all its weight bearing down on her and her Force block, a soundless snarl on her face.

She buckled at the knees, sweat now dripping down her vermillion features.

The room continued to press her down.

She opened her eyes and looked at Boss.

He could see the tears of exertion slipping from her amethyst eyes. She seemed to be asking him if he was ready.

He nodded his head in acknowledgement.

She gritted her teeth and gave her last ounces of strength.

Suddenly a look of surprise came across her face.

She stood, and the room still did not fall on their heads.

Shaak Ti looked at Boss, a look of utter bewilderment on her face.

"General Ti, come in!"

The long silent com-link came to life.

"This is Ti. Go ahead."

"This is Clone Commander Gree. Generals Luminara and Fisto are holding the building up. We are sending in a squad to retrieve you."

Shaak Ti looked happy enough to cry.

They were not going to die.

They were going to be rescued.


	10. Chapter 10

"Well," Lumbard said, "After a while in a bacta tank, you and your squad are going to be fine."

It was the best news Boss had heard all day.

During the Squad's escapades, it was realized that a miscalculation had been made. Only two points needed to be destroyed before the shields would fall. The second blast had allowed the clones and Jedi to storm the fort and eliminate all the droids. Ventress's ship had been seen fleeing the battle, and rendezvousing with the remains of the Separatist fleet, before jumping into hyperspace with them.

While Shaak Ti had spat some remark about Ventress being a coward, Boss' only concern was for his men.

That when Lumbard had dropped by with the news.

Boss heaved a sigh of relief. They had been extremely lucky.

"Now we have to get you to a medical frigate," Lumbard said. "I must tend to the other wounded. Good luck."

He gestured at a pair of clones. They obediently ran over and picked up the stretcher Boss was on, and began to carry him towards the waiting LAAT.

"One moment troopers."

The stretcher stopped moving. Boss turned his head, and saw a sight he thought he'd never see.

Shaak Ti, trotting towards him.

She skidded to a halt next to the troopers carrying Boss' stretcher.

"How is he?"

"He'll be fine general, so long as he stays in a bacta tank for the night."

"You could have asked me," Boss huffed.

The Jedi looked down at him with a kindly countenance. "I was unsure whether you were awake."

"Unfortunately, I am," the commando groaned.

"You are fortunate to be alive Boss," she said quietly. "Ventress has killed many Jedi. Many of my friends."

Her eyes moistened. Boss got an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach.

"But it seems I was wrong," she said.

"About what?"

She smiled. It was radiant as a sunset over Coruscant. "It seems you are not an incompetent little drone after all."

Boss smiled too. He opened his mouth to say something, but another clone came charging up to the Jedi.

"General," he panted. "An urgent matter has arisen on Centares. The Council has ordered you there with best possible speed."

Shaak Ti's shoulders slumped. "Tell them I am on my way."

The clone turned and left. Shaak Ti began to follow, but she stopped when she heard someone behind her.

"Don't worry. You've got more than air under those montrals."

Silently, she smiled. She turned to look, but Boss was already being carted away into a LAAT.

Even knowing that he would not hear her, she said it anyway.

"May the Force be with you, Boss."


End file.
